Kristina Gooden
Prospective English Teacher
About Me
I am a graduate student at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. I completed my undergraduate degree with a Bachelor of English in December of 2015 and am currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Teaching for Secondary Education, also at James Madison University.
Career Goals
My goal is to be a high school English teacher somewhere in Harrisonburg or in one of the surrounding cities. Harrisonburg is basically my hometown and I don't want to travel too far away but I also wouldn't mind a small commute everyday. Even though I have been pretty set on teaching high school throughout my undergraduate career, I wouldn't be opposed to starting off in a middle school teaching Language Arts. So far in my education, the majority of my practicum experience has been in middle schools and I am really starting to take a strong liking towards them and their imaginations and willingness to learn! It will be interesting to see where my first job takes me. :)
Teaching Experiences
Throughout my undergraduate career at JMU, I have worked in a lot of middle school classrooms, including ELL (English Language Learners) and AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) classroom. In the Fall of 2015, I did a middle school practicum at Stewart Middle School in Fort Defiance, VA. I put in 95 hours over the course of four months and was able to really get to know the students and the teachers. During that time, I was able to create and teach four of my own lessons, which was a great learning experience for me.